Affiliations: Department of Library & Information Science, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Jennifer Harmon, Department of Library & Information Science, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, 535 W Michigan Street, IT565, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Tel.: +1 317 274 0114; E-mail:jenjemey@iupui.edu
Abstract: For the Spring 2015 semester of the Public Library
Management course, students were given digital badges along with grades for
their coursework. For each topic's corresponding assignment, students
received a traditional grade and those achieving at least an A- received a
digital badge that represented the skill or knowledge demonstrated. By using
digital badges, the students were given the opportunity to experience this
growing educational trend and reflect on their role in the learning that
takes place in libraries for librarians and library users. To explore the
effectiveness of digital badging, students were surveyed to ascertain how
they perceived the digital badges they received. The survey results
indicated that students were underwhelmed by the experience in terms of
their own motivation, their perception of the usefulness of badges for
employment and for professional development purposes, and their future
personal use of badges.
Keywords: Digital badges, higher education, graduate students, professional development, motivation
